John Bredemus, often called The Father of Texas Golf, is a relatively unknown golf course architect to most people, even those in Texas. Bredemus was born in Flint, Michigan and pursued academics in the Northeast at Dartmouth and eventually Princeton where he was a notable athlete and earned his degree in Civil Engineering. Bredemus wasn't introduced to golf till 1914 where he began playing at Van Courtland Park in New York City. It is also rumored that Bredemus helped with the construction of the Lido Golf Club, the famed course designed by C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor. In 1919 Bredemus came to San Antonio, Texas to work at a school and as an assistant pro at Brackenridge Park. He would soon become the state's first resident architect and shape the history of golf in Texas. Bredemus co-founded the Texas Open in 1922 (the third oldest PGA Tour event) and also brought tour events to Dallas, Houston, Beaumont and Corpus Christi. Perhaps the most important tournament he brought to the state was the 1927 National PGA Championship held at Cedar Crest Country Club in Dallas which was won by the great Walter Hagen (read more about the championship here). Bredemus also co-founded the Texas Professional Golfers Associations in 1922. And in 1991, Bredemus was inducted into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame alongside other great Texans such as Bruce Lietzke and George Hannon.
Bredemus was a very interesting character as Harvey Penick notes in his Little Red Book. He traveled from site to site leaving very little records of his work behind and would travel with minimal belongings (clothes, books, golf bag with seven clubs, and a game of checkers). Arguably the most famous course he worked on was Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth along side Perry Maxwell and his protégée Ralph Plummer. Together the three built a golf course that has stood the test of time hosting a number of big events such as the 45th U.S. Open and now the Dean and Deluca Invitational. From an architectural point of view it is most notable with its Horrible Horseshoe on holes 3, 4, and 5 (click here for some insight on all three holes from Chris Dimarco on Golf Channel). Perhaps his most notable golf course he ever built was Memorial Park in Houston which he called his "greatest golf course ever." The course played host for the Houston Open from 1951-1963 and has had its fair share of golf legends play it like Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Jimmy Demaret and Babe Didrikson Zaharias. Unfortunately many of his courses have gone through many changes or have been shut down. His design philosophy was very minimalistic and very little earth was moved to build his courses. Harvey Penick said the Bredemus taught him "it takes the eyes of an artist to design a course, but the skills of an engineer to build one. John was both." Below is a list of golf courses designed by Bredemus that are open for play:
BraeBurn Country Club - Houston
Colonial Country Club - Fort Worth
Conroe Country Club - Conroe
Tony Butler Golf Course - Harlingen
Meadowbrook Golf Course - Fort Worth
Memorial Park Golf Course - Houston
Ridglea Country Club (North Course) - Fort Worth
Rockwood Park Golf Course - Fort Worth
San Angelo Country Club - San Angelo
San Felipe Country Club - Del Rio
Scott Schreiner Municipal Golf Course - Kerrville
Victoria Country Club - Victoria
Westwood Golf Club - Houston
Interesting Stories:
After spending one year at Dartmouth, Bredemus decided to focus on preparation for 1913 Amateur Athletic Union All-Around Competition held in New York City. Bredemus finished as runner-up to Jim Thorpe. However, a few months after the competition Thorpe was stripped of his medals for not actually being an amateur athlete (they found out he once played semi-proffesional basketball). Thorpe's medals were given to Bredemus who kept them with him till the day he died. Penick claims that Bredemus showed them to him in a cigar box and said that he was going to melt them down.
Colonial Country Club was deemed to have the first bent grass greens in Texas when it was built in 1936. However, Bredemus had actually used bent grass greens on two previous courses: first at San Angelo Country Club in 1928 and next at Starcke Park in 1935. Another interesting note about his designs was that he never used sand greens, only grass greens, something pretty rare for architects to say back in the day.
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